Nicholson excited about Fleetwood challenge but keeps his feelings 'in-house'

Don’t miss the latest football news and gossip from leagues in England, Scotland and Europe with footballwire.co.ukOnly the club’s own media team were allowed to attend the briefing, though The Gazette was invited to submit questions and we were sent a recording of Nicholson’s answers to the ones which were asked.

Asked if there are different pressures to the last time he was caretaker boss (in summer 2016), Nicholson said: “Yes, we need results. The onus is on me to pick a team that goes out there and picks up a win. I’m really excited about the challenge.

“I spoke to the chairman on Saturday night and he said it is up to myself, Dave and the rest of the staff to get the players going and steady the ship after a few poor results and performances. It is an exciting time for me. Let’s see where it takes us.”

Asked what was the key to ending a seven-match losing run, Nicholson said: “I think the players need to go out confident in their own ability. I think there needs to be total positivity about the whole group.

“Negativity comes from poor performances and poor results, so it is really important we try to stamp our authority and our game on teams and attack them as much as we can.

“We know we are going to have to defend in games and we need to get better at that because we have shipped too many goals.

“We have tried to give them positivity, give them confidence and hopefully they can take that on to the pitch.”

Asked what he had learned working with the three previous men in charge at Highbury, Nicholson said: “I’m still a really young coach, with not a lot of experience at League level, but I have worked with some very good managers.

“I have taken bits from everything. We are a young football club that wants to develop players, and when you are sitting in the hot seat you need to win games.”

As for team news, Nicholson said: “Full squad. Everyone is available to play. I have obviously got the difficult decision of picking the right 11 but it is a challenge I’m looking forward to.

“I’m sure whoever I put out will do the club and themselves justice and put a good performance on for the fans.”

Asked if he had a message for those fans, he replied: “Stay with us and stick with the team. They’ll obviously be disappointed with recent results, so we need to try and put on a good performance.

“They were brilliant last season when we were going for promotion. We need that same support again and I’ll do my best, as well as the players, to create momentum in our favour.

“We need everybody together. As a whole club we need to stick together and move forward.”